VacationSelector
The Texas State Capitol under a blue sky, Austin
AustinThe Texas State Capitol under a blue sky
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Austin by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Austin or Philadelphia?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Austin for

  • wellness
  • nightlife
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Austin’s own page.

Choose Philadelphia for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Austin 30, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Austin 66, Philadelphia 62: Austin leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Austin 40, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Nightlife. Austin 65, Philadelphia 55: Austin leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Austin 57, Philadelphia 52: Austin leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Austin 58, Philadelphia 80: Philadelphia leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Austin 55, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Austin 30, Philadelphia 66: Philadelphia leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Austin 45, Philadelphia 57: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Austin 33, Philadelphia 40: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Live music & performing arts. Austin 77, Philadelphia 72: Austin leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Austin 40, Philadelphia 26: Austin leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Austin and Philadelphia.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Austin
50match

Wins on wellness and nightlife with your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Austin in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
49 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AustinPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Austin: 1991-2020 normals, Camp Mabry/Austin City Asos (3.7 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAustinPhiladelphia
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation149 m12 m
Main airportAustin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)13 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureAustinPhiladelphia
City population961,8551,603,797
People per km²1,2174,339
Museums within 10 km2154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Austin or Philadelphia somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.